German Pat. No. 24 22 687 discloses a mounting arrangement for mounting a sensing box in an opening in an electric cooker hot plate in which the sensing box is connected via a capillary tube to a control means and is pressed toward a cooking vessel, for example, a saucepan, standing on the hot plate by the force of a spring, with a holding member, relative to which the sensing box can be moved axially to a limited extent and which supports the pressing spring and holds springy catch elements for securing the holding member on the hot plate. The holding member has a catch hoop with a central portion. The pressing spring runs transversely through the opening, abutting on the underside of the hot plate. The catch hoop also has at least two arms, which are bent away from the sensing box from the central portion, and on which the catch elements are formed. According to German Pat. No. 24 22 687, a spreader member is arranged on the catch hoop and is designed to limit the inward pressing of the sensing box into the opening by resting on the sensing box in its outer peripheral region, the spreader member being in the form of a sheet metal member provided on the central portion of the catch hoop with squared off edges directed toward the sensing box as spreader stops.
In the above mentioned German patent, the holding member consists of a catch hoop in the form of a sheet metal member in whose central portion is firmly rivetted a three-armed spreader member whose upwardly pointing arms form the spreader stops. Although this design has proven suitable in practice, it would be desirable to further increase the free spring path even in the case of very flat sensing boxes. Moreover, if mounted in an unskilled manner, the mounting arrangement would tilt obliquely in the opening in the hot plate so that it could not rest on the bottom of the saucepan in an orderly fashion. It would thus be desirable to provide increased protection from faulty mounting. However, the simple structure and, particularly, the automatic assembly of the arrangement should not be impaired but rather improved.